Autoimmune Disease: A Gendered Crisis
Explore how autoimmune diseases disproportionately affect women and why addressing this silent health crisis is essential to empowering patients and creating a resilient healthcare system.
April 13, 2026
She was 39, newly promoted, and had just welcomed her second child when the fatigue hit. Then came the joint pain, the swelling, and the uncertainty. It took months—and multiple specialists—before she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic inflammatory disease that can immobilize fingers, wrists, feet and ankle joints.
Like millions of women around the world,i her story is not uncommon. But it is often unheard.
Autoimmune disease is, at its core, a women’s health crisis. More than a hundred autoimmune conditions disproportionately affect women, so it’s little wonder that nearly two thirds of patients are female.ii,iii The consequences are profound: for young and middle‑aged women, autoimmune diseases collectively stand as a leading cause of death in the US – an often-overlooked reality hiding in plain sight.iv
A gendered burden
Studies show that after the delivery of a baby, women are at an increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritisii which underscores the crucial role of tailored care during one of life’s most vulnerable phases.
- Women are twice as likely as men to develop autoimmune diseases.ii
- In many cases this higher risk is attributed to hormonal shifts and bodily changes – such as those experienced during pregnancy and post-partum.ii
- 70% of people who suffer rheumatoid arthritis are women.v
The cost of inaction: supporting patients and healthcare systems
This isn’t just a medical issue; it’s a societal one. Autoimmune diseases not only have a devastating impact on the individuals, families and communities they affect, but they also affect society at large through high healthcare utilization and cost burden – in the US, the direct costs of autoimmune diseases have been estimated at over $100 billion per year,vi and biologic products as a whole account for 43% of all US and medical spending.vii
This is where biosimilar treatments may offer promise. Biosimilars are biologic medicines that have been developed to be highly similar to an already approved biologic, with no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety and effectiveness.viii,ix
Biosimilar medicines offer one of the most powerful levers for potentially reducing healthcare spending – introducing real market competition and expanding access to critical biologic therapies.x,xi In 2024 alone, their use delivered an estimated $20.2 billion in savings across the U.S. healthcare system.xi
Just as importantly, biosimilars have opened the door to increased patient care, enabling more than 460 million additional days of therapy.ix The impact is tangible: patients may be able to access the treatments they need at prices that don’t force them to choose between their medication and other costs of daily living.
Advancing biosimilar uptake in healthcare systems will require an integration of stakeholders across the spectrum, and collaboration is the backbone of our approach; every day, our policy, market access and marketing teams work closely with our research and development partners, public health bodies, and regulatory and funding agencies.
Together, we’re working to ensure that patients and prescribers alike recognize the important role these medicines can play for people living with autoimmune diseases.
i Black, Rachel J, Cross M, Global, regional, and national burden of rheumatoid arthritis, 1990–2020, and projections to 2050: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, The Lancet Rheumatology, Volume 5, Issue 10, 2023, Pages e594-e610,https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00211-4.
ii Angum F, Khan T, Kaler J, et al. (May 13, 2020) The Prevalence of Autoimmune Disorders in Women: A Narrative Review. Cureus 12(5): e8094. DOI 10.7759/cureus.8094
iii Invernizzi P, Pasini S, Selmi C, Gershwin ME, Podda M: Female predominance and X chromosome defects in autoimmune diseases. J Autoimmun. 2009, 33:12-16. 10.1016/j.jaut.2009.03.005
iv Walsh SJ, Rau LM. Autoimmune diseases: a leading cause of death among young and middle-aged women in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2000;90(9):1463-1466. doi:10.2105/ajph.90.9.1463
v GBD 2019 Diseases and Injuries Collaborators. Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1204-1222. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30925-9
vi American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association. The Cost Burden of Autoimmune Disease: The Latest Front in the War on Healthcare Spending. 2011. Accessed March 30, 2026. https://diabetesed.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/autoimmune-diseases.pdf
vii Aitken M, Kleinrock M, Muñoz E. Biosimilars in the United States 2020–2024: competition, savings, and sustainability. IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. September 29, 2020. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/biosimilars-in-the-united-states-2020-2024
viii Biosimilars basics for patients. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. August 9, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/biosimilars/biosimilar-basics-patients
ix Biosimilar regulatory review and approval. Fda.gov. Accessed November 5, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/media/151061/download
x Aitken M, Mugele D, Newton M, Rodríguez I, Vázquez M. Spotlight on Biosimilars. IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. June 2021. Accessed November 5, 2025. https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports-and-publications/reports/spotlight-on-biosimilars
xi Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM). The U.S. Generic & Biosimilar Medicines Savings Report 2025. September 2025. Accessed November 5, 2025. https://accessiblemeds.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AAM-2025-Generic-Biosimilar-Medicines-Savings-Report-WEB.pdf